KnowInk is an elections technology company based in St. Louis, Missouri, best known for its products, Poll Print and Poll Pad. KnowInk is the largest electronic polling vendor in the United States, with products in use in over 1,700 districts across 35 states and Washington D.C., as well as two cities in Canada. ¹

In March 2023, KnowInk moved to a new headquarters in St. Louis. Attendees of the opening ceremony included Governor Mike Parson (R-MO), St. Louis County Executive Sam Page (D), and St. Louis County NAACP president John Bowman. ²

History

While working as election director for St. Louis, Scott Leiendecker was dismayed at the long lines at polling stations and decided to try to find a technological method of streamlining the voting process. In 2011, Leiendecker founded KnowInk ^{3 4} with three employees and a single client. ⁵

Leinendecker and his team’s first major project was the Poll Pad, the first technology that enabled the scanning of a driver’s license on an iPad. ⁶

In 2016, KnowInk made its first acquisition when it purchased Election Administrators. ⁷

KnowInk began to rapidly expand in 2018, at which point it had sold 20,000 Poll Pads. By the following year, total sales reached 65,000. In 2020, sales reached 90,000. ⁸

In 2021, KnowInk acquired BPro, a South Dakota-based company. ⁹

Poll Print and Poll Pad

KnowInk’s flagship products are the Poll Pad and Poll Print. Rather than signing in voters by hand, the Poll Pad is an iPad-based digital system that centralizes and coordinates voting records within districts, and uses proprietary software to scan voter IDs. The Poll Print is a computerized ballot station that, according to KnowInk, conducts voting in 35-40 seconds and requires 50% fewer employees to man voting stations compared to traditional voting methods. ¹⁰ CEO Scott Leiendecker has claimed that the Poll Pad and Poll Print are appealing to Republicans for their security and to Democrats for their speed. ¹¹ As of April 2023, 117,000 Poll Pads have been sold. ¹²

Controversy

Philadelphia

In September 2019, the Philadelphia election officials ran a test with newly purchased KnowInk products and reported numerous problems, including “failures to properly connect to voting machine printers and inadequate election night reporting.” ¹³

Slow Voting

After the 2020 election, Government Technology reported that districts in Georgia, Ohio, and Texas with KnowInk voting systems had issues that slowed voting speeds. Upshur County in Texas needed to extend voting hours after 8 PM due to connectivity issues. ¹⁴

Dominion Voting Systems

After the 2020 election, Dominion Voting Systems was subject to conspiracy theories that falsely claimed the company had stolen the election from then-President Donald Trump through coordinated voter fraud. One claim against Dominion was that its voter identification machines in Morgan and Spalding Counties in Georgia failed to work, resulting in poll workers using paper ballots that may have been manipulated. Dominion later revealed that its machines in Morgan and Spalding Counties were provided by KnowInk as a subcontractor, and that the machine errors were random. ¹⁵

Leadership

Scott Leiendecker is the founder and CEO of KowInk, as well as the creator of the Poll Pad. Leiendecker worked as an election investigator for the Missouri Secretary of State from 2001 to 2003, and then as Republican Election Director of the St. Louis City Board of Election Commissioners from 2005 to 2012. In 2010, Leiendecker went to Kosovo to oversee the country’s first parliamentary elections. ^{16 17}

In July 2018, Leiendecker testified before the U.S. Senate Committee on Rules and Administration Hearing on Election Security Preparations. ¹⁸

In February 2023, Steele Shippy became an executive at KnowInk. Shippy ran the reelection campaign of Governor Mike Parson (R-MO) in 2020, served as chief of staff for Missouri state Senate President Pro Tem Dave Schatz (R), and served as deputy chief-of-staff for Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft (R-MO). ¹⁹

1. “Where We Are.” KnowInk. Accessed April 14, 2023. https://knowink.com/where-we-are/.
2. Palermo, Gregg. “Election tech firm opens new St. Louis County head-quarters.” Spectrum News. March 28, 2023. Accessed April 14. 2023. https://spectrumlocalnews.com/mo/st-louis/news/2023/03/28/firm-behind-election-technology-celebrates-st–louis-county-hq-opening.
3. Hamdam, Lara. “Former St. Louis Elections Director’s Electronic Poll Book Streamlines Voting Process. NPR. April 6, 2021. Accessed April 14, 2023. https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=984534376.
4. “Scott L.” LinkedIn. Accessed April 14, 2023. https://www.linkedin.com/in/scott-l-5680094/.
5. Palermo, Gregg. “Election tech firm opens new St. Louis County head-quarters.” Spectrum News. March 28, 2023. Accessed April 14. 2023. https://spectrumlocalnews.com/mo/st-louis/news/2023/03/28/firm-behind-election-technology-celebrates-st–louis-county-hq-opening.
6. Hamdam, Lara. “Former St. Louis Elections Director’s Electronic Poll Book Streamlines Voting Process. NPR. April 6, 2021. Accessed April 14, 2023. https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=984534376.
7. “Who We Are.” KnowInk. Accessed April 14, 2023. https://knowink.com/who-we-are/.
8. “Who We Are.” KnowInk. Accessed April 14, 2023. https://knowink.com/who-we-are/.
9. “Who We Are.” KnowInk. Accessed April 14, 2023. https://knowink.com/who-we-are/.
10. “Poll Pad.” KnowInk. Accessed April 14, 2023. https://knowink.com/products/poll-pad/.
11. Hamdam, Lara. “Former St. Louis Elections Director’s Electronic Poll Book Streamlines Voting Process. NPR. April 6, 2021. Accessed April 14, 2023. https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=984534376.
12. “Who We Are.” KnowInk. Accessed April 14, 2023. https://knowink.com/who-we-are/.
13. Lai, Jonathan. “Philly elections officials touted new electronic poll books. Now the city says they don’t work right.” Philadelphia Inquirer. September 17, 2019. Accessed April 14, 2023. https://www.inquirer.com/politics/philadelphia/philly-epollbook-electronic-systems-should-not-be-used-city-says-20190917.html.
14. Mehrotra, Kartikay; Newkirk, Margaret. “Digital Poll Book Failures Slowed Voting in Several States.” Government Technology. November 4, 2020. Accessed April 14, 2023. https://www.govtech.com/security/digital-poll-book-failures-slowed-voting-in-several-states.html
15. “Dominion Voting Systems.” Gov Info. Updated November 12, 2020. Accessed April 14, 2023. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GPO-J6-DOC-CTRL0000082095/pdf/GPO-J6-DOC-CTRL0000082095.pdf.
16. “Scott L.” LinkedIn. Accessed April 14, 2023. https://www.linkedin.com/in/scott-l-5680094/.
17. Palermo, Gregg. “Election tech firm opens new St. Louis County head-quarters.” Spectrum News. March 28, 2023. Accessed April 14. 2023. https://spectrumlocalnews.com/mo/st-louis/news/2023/03/28/firm-behind-election-technology-celebrates-st–louis-county-hq-opening.
18. “Scott Leiendecker.” Senate.gov. July 11, 2018. Accessed April 14, 2023. https://www.rules.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/7-11-18%20Scott%20Leiendecker%20Testimony.pdf.
19. Holleman, Joe. “Former political operative now exec for St. Louis-based voting-tech firm.” St. Louis Today. February 16, 2023. Accessed April 14, 2023. https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/columns/joe-holleman/former-political-operative-now-exec-for-st-louis-based-voting-tech-firm/article_af78bc6b-8b0e-5768-a47a-7c75e5c7b3b6.html.